This invention relates generally to the cleaning of marine equipment and especially boats and engines therefor, as well as the trailers that are frequently used to transport them; more specifically, it relates to an apparatus that is adapted to be mounted on a boat trailer in order that a boat and/or any engine that is used to propel the boat may be rinsed with fresh water immediately after use.
It is well known that the waters in which boats are sometimes used are not pristine; and even so-called fresh water lakes and rivers are sometimes so muddy and laden with silt that they constitute a real problem to those owners who value cleanliness in their boats and associated equipment. Those persons who use pleasure boats in salt water have even more cause to be worried about the nature of the water in which they place their boats. But with a boat whose exterior surface is being contaminated, at least the owner can see the buildup of salt and silt deposits that are left behind when a boat is removed from a body of water. What is not visible, because it occurs inside a water-cooled engine (motor), can be even more damaging than what occurs on the exterior of a boat.
Recognizing the long-term, hazardous nature of water that is laden with salt or silt, the manufacturers of relatively expensive engines (such as MerCruiser and Mercury marine engines) admonish owners of such engines to flush them with fresh water after each use. Regrettably, the written admonition to "flush after every use" is the kind of advice that is very good in theory but usually very difficult to practice. This is true because there are many more boats that are launched and retrieved at public boat ramps than are put into the water at private marinas having elaborate facilities and cleaning equipment. And very few public boat ramps make fresh water available to boaters, so that they may perform a cleaning operation on their engines before water begins to evaporate from the hot metal surfaces inside the engines. This evaporation of less than pure water starts the buildup of scale and deposits that can eventually clog cooling passages and cause engine failure.
Of course, some boaters think they are being suitably conscientious when they climb into their cars and pull their loaded boat trailers to the nearest town. Such boaters stop at the first self-service car wash facility that is available, wash off their equipment and assume that they've done the most that can be expected of them. Unfortunately, the damage that has already been done in the first 15 or 20 minutes after a hot engine has been removed from the water cannot be cured by simply flushing a cold engine with clean water at some facility having a faucet. It is an object of this invention, therfore, to provide an apparatus that will enable boat owners to accomplish--for the first time--what manufacturers have been suggesting for years, namely, flushing with fresh water after each use. But more particularly, it is an object of this invention to modify and make more rigid a preventative maintenance procedure by adding to the traditional manufacturer's suggestion a time qualification. Specifically, it is believed that engine manufacturers should have been saying in the past, and may now begin saying (without seeming foolish), "Flush with fresh water immediately after each use--and before the engine cools." With this invention, such a modified admonition can be heeded, and the longevity of both boats and their engines can be extended significantly.
It probably should be mentioned, however, that the adverse effects of sea water or other impure water has not been totally ignored by those who have turned their attention to boat and engine maintenance. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,889 to Burger entitled "Portable Cleaning Device for Outboard Motors" there is a disclosure of a shroud-like sack into which the drive portion of an outboard motor can be placed, if the motor is small enough so that it can be tilted upward to receive the sack when the engine is to be rinsed. The nature of the Burger device renders it unsuitable for large outboard motors, however, and there is doubt that it could be safely used on any inboard drive engines. Additionally, there is no explanation by Burger concerning where a person is to obtain the many gallons of fresh water that he shows in his sack, nor is there a statement of how long it would take to transport fresh water from some source on dry land out to a boat that is still resting in the water. Too, there is no explanation of how a boat owner can ensure that he will not run the risk of falling out of the boat when he is leaning over the stern for a substantial distance in an attempt to slip a Burger sack over the motor's raised prop. It follows, therefore, that a device like that shown by Burger does not seem to reveal a dependable solution to the problem of how to quickly rinse the inside of a water-cooled marine engine, regardless of the size of the engine or whether it can be safely reached from inside in the boat. It is an object of this invention to solve such a problem.
Still another object is to increase the satisfaction that boat owners have with respect to owning and using their boats, by reducing the buildup of visible scum or salt that causes a noticeable degradation in the ornamental appearance of what is usually a very attractive product.
One more object is to improve the process of rinsing a boat and its marine engine by providing cleaning water at a pressure that can be appreciably higher than the pressure that is typical of many municipal water sources.
These and other objects will be apparent from a reading of the following description and the claims that follow it, together with appropriate reference to the several figures of the drawing that are provided herewith .